Boyhood bowed spectacularly this weekend, piling audiences into five theaters for the initial run of Richard Linklater‘s tour de force that was 12 years in the making. As we mentioned earlier this morning, the IFC Films title is coming in with a $360 – 385K weekend estimate for a stratospheric $72K to 77K PTA, depending on how the dust settles Sunday. Friday and Saturday numbers were buoyed by Q&As in both New York and LA, but none are scheduled today. IFC Films was actually conservative reporting their numbers Sunday morning, with an initial $359K gross ($71,800 PTA) though others tracking the numbers had estimates land a bit higher. Whatever the number, the final tally points in one direction — this is a tremendous opening for the Berlin and Sundance festival title (and award winner at both) that had audiences swooning ahead of this weekend’s opening. Boyhood is easily the year’s second-best opener in terms of screen average behind Fox Searchlight’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, which opened in several locations back in March with a record-breaking $202,792 PTA. “We are thrilled with the opening numbers for Boyhood this weekend,” IFC noted in reporting their numbers. “The opening numbers have surpassed our highest expectations for the weekend, as audiences flocked to theatrers for the critically acclaimed film.”

IFC Films financed the film by doling out small amounts each year over its 12-year process of creation. The AMC Networks division has a long-standing relationship with Linklater, having financed Waking Life and Tape. The Austin-based filmmaker and producer John Sloss had approached IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring about what was then dubbed the “12-year project” and, together with his boss Josh Sapan at AMC Networks, committed about $200,000 a year to the film’s editing and shooting. Said Sehring and Sapan: “Back in 2002, we thought Rick’s idea was an extraordinary notion and we believed him to be a great filmmaker. Putting our creative and commercial fates in the hands of people who are brilliant has proven to be a terrific strategy for the company and we couldn’t’ be happier to have supported Rick’s creative vision. The result is a film for the ages and we can’t wait to bring Boyhood to the rest of the country in the weeks to come.”

Recent Comments

Saw it. It is a masterpiece. If the Academy ignores Linklater this time, they are idiots.

Yngwie F Malmsteen

8 months

Can't wait to see this....

Though IFC Films said that the indicators were headed for a good open, the numbers must come as a relief considering that long, long investment of money and time. The feature, produced by Sehring and Sloss, will expand to ten markets next weekend with more added in coming weeks. Boyhood is having a traditional rollout, meaning any on-demand or VOD dates aren’t planned to arrive until around the end of the year.

Also opening this weekend was Sony Classics‘ Land Ho!, opening several locations and grossing $37,811. The Icelandic road trip movie centers on two retired gentleman making a trek through the island nation, and averaged a decent per-theater average of $9,453. It will continue to add markets in the coming weeks.

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s Closed Curtain opened exclusively at New York’s Film Forum. The title, which debuted in Berlin last year, grossed $8,500. The Iranian filmmaker, who is currently banned from making films in his country for two decades and faced imprisonment under hardliner former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, nevertheless made the feature about a writer who flees to a remote Caspian Sea villa but whose exile is interrupted by a woman’s unexpected arriva. Said distributor Variance on Sunday: “We’re quite pleased, especially given the formidable competition this week at the arthouse and multiplex.” The company’s Dylan Marchetti also quipped: “I often tell people I feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t realized they can go to the movies twice in one weekend, but in this case, between Curtain, Apes, and Boyhood, I feel sorry for anyone who didn’t go three times.” Closed Curtain will expand to Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego July 18, with additional runs booked throughout the summer in the US and Canada. And Bollywood title Humpy Sharma Ki Dulhania bowed in 101 theaters on this continent, grossing nearly $401K for a $3,970 PTA. It is likely close to its theatrical height in terms of theater reach.

Begin Again continued to hit high notes even with a big expansion. The TWC feature starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo and Adam Levine added 764 theaters in its third weekend, grossing a solid $2.935M for a $3,126 PTA, placing it 9th in the overall box office. Last week it averaged $7,520 in 175 theaters. Its three-week come is now nearly $5.3M. Sony Classics added 34 runs for the fourth weekend of its Third Person. It grossed over $261K, averaging $1,151. The title played 34 theaters, averaging $3,525 last weekend. Its one-month cume is now almost $580K. The re-release of ’60s Beatles feature A Hard Day’s Night continued to play well to audiences 50 years after it first debuted. The feature played 56 theaters, grossing nearly $73K for a $1,303 average. It is noteworthy that the title by Janus Film has had other re-releases over the decades.

And RADiUS-TWC added 106 locations for the 3rd frame of Snowpiercer grossing nearly $677 in 356 theaters, an addition of 106 runs over the previous weekend. The film by Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho averaged $3,993 last week from 250 theaters. Said RADiUS co-president Tom Quinn Sunday: “Snowpiercer held in nicely theatrically, while VOD looks extremely strong from a sampling of early Friday numbers. The film is performing at or near the top for the majority of VOD platforms, including reaching the highly coveted #1 spot on iTunes, beating out Wolf Of Wall Street(priced at 99 cents).” Its three week theatrical cume is now almost $2.677M. RADiUS’ doc Fed Up meanwhile passed the $1.5M cumulative mark in its 10th weekend in theaters.

Finally in its 11th week, Music Box’s Ida grossed $145K in 85 theaters, easily passing the $3M cume mark. It averaged a still healthy $1,706, brining its total gross to nearly $3.12M. Here are the week’s charts: